So, getting a little restless about wondering what to do after graduation (which is pretty much after this term, since I probably don't have to take any classes in spring term) I've found some more ESL job search sites:

ESL PANDA

http://www.eslpanda.com

world-wide, a lot of Chinese companies but some Japanese, Korean, South America, pretty global

JAPAN JOBS-Japan English Teacher.com

http://www.japanenglishteacher.com/

HOKKAIDO JOBS (information from this one comes at a price... for those whose hearts are set on Hokkaido I suppose)

I got a bite from the school in Toyohashi (Dream location!). Unfortunately it sounds like they want someone from March, and I'm not technically graduated until June. I have to follow up with the honors college and see if there's anyway of making my honors college colloquia count for a university social sciences class. Ridiculous that there should even be a question, but what can you do. I don't even know if they could swing me a visa quickly enough, although there are 90 day traveler's visas. Renewable if you leave the country... although there is the problem of working and having a bank account if you don't have a work visa? I'll have to look into this some more. Maybe they can keep my CV in the case that they have an opening at a later date.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

If anyone has the capacity to offer any suggestions, I'd appreciate it ;) Haha this stuff is darn hard to write about in a foreign language. Anyway, it's all about the differences between Momoyama and Edo period ceramics in Japan and what was coming out of the big kilns of the eras.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Well... this weekend has been fun so far but I'm still having gut woes since taking that probiotic. Then again, seems like a lot of people in my Korean class were complaining of gut things keeping them from doing homework... so there's the chance that I caught something. But my fire drill: magnesium, taurine, 5-htp is in place to cope with the creepy crawlies I get when my digestion isn't absorbing the nutrients I need to mentally function. So far so good. Didn't make it to ballet today :( BUT the rest is good for me :-D

Max made a ballet barre so I can catch up at home

The Hayao Miyazaki Marathon that I was looking forward to this week happened after all. I watched both Ponyo (Gakke no Ue no Ponyo) and Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi)

Coming up:

-Are cows really fed plastic hay?

-How to make an affordable ballet barre at home

-Writings on Japanese acupuncture (in Japanese) 日本針治療について（日本語で）

-Norwegian Wood response (the Haruki Murakami novel... it will become the subject of my research project to be finished by the end of the term... only 6 weeks left until that point! Crap!)

Friday, January 28, 2011

So, the medical world: "conventional" and "alternative" alike is all abuzz about Probiotics... and the idea of replenishing intenstinal flora to combat the assaults on our systems of the mix of yeast, sugar, and refined flours resulting in what is an overgrowth of candida (everyone's favorite YEAST infections) and a lack of friendly bacteria for most people.

Scary, I know. ;) Oh the horror.

Both my primary care MD, naturopaths, and my acupuncturists recommend probiotics but the fact of the matter is that they can be painful for us whose systems are out of whack (and also, the way they are cultured among them are different and people, depending on sensitivities and allergies, will have different reactions to different strains.) There are herxheimer reactions (worsening of symptoms occurring when positive changes are happening), as well as just having general side affects. Looks like probiotics produce side effects for me.

Having a healthy balance of flora in the gut can help with these conditions: (and yet, for most, is not the silver bullet answer)

-allergies (of all kinds)

-fatigue

-IBS

-leaky gut and nutrient absorbtion

So I don't know if the discomfort I'm in is because of some good vs. evil bacteria/fungi in the gut or if probiotics are a no-no for me.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

I'm a big fan of real food and anywhere the sick system is called out for it's dirty deeds. Thus, I quite enjoy muckraking exposes like Fast Food Nation. For me it doesn't really stop at food, but the general lack of concern for safety in consumer goods and new technologies.

Regardless, I wrote a paper about this in Japanese this year and how cool is this that a Japanese-american (in NY? Okay.... ) is writing books like this. I saw it at the Marche cafe today and when this intense term is over and I have time to myself, i would love to read through it and her other stuff.

Until then, at least I get to enjoy reading Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood for the first time.

Acupuncture was a success today. You don't know how wound up you are until suddenly you're un-wound. Although I guess I'm more sensitive than most... but I'm working hard on that.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Reading about Momoyama period ceramics in Japanese has me missing my Grandpa... and feeling nostalgic all over the place.

Feeling a little blue tonight. For no apparent reason. Just feeling down about a lot of stuff lately, each on its own is ok to deal with but definitely feeling it cropping up on me. Just waves of sadness wash over me.

I took some 5-HTP

Ballet is fun. It's sort of like therapy which I was thinking of going to but I think ballet is more of a release for me... and I heard obamacare was reversed so I don't know how that will affect my health insurance situation if I get married. Dissapointing.

And a little overwhelmed by my Japanese class. This ain't easy stuff. But the improvement in my other class is remarkable. So the work I'm putting in is building muscles somewhere... just having trouble knowing how reliable those muscles are. Haha kind of like ballet. I want to get back onto pointe but my pointe muscles aren't strong enough yet. I don't think I'm pointing my foot properly because I'm feeling it too much in my achilles tendon and that's a very important area to take care of in ballet that can be damaged en pointe. Point with the ankle and the top of the foot... w/o clenching the achilles. Simple concept but easier said than done.

We're studying ceramics in my Japanese Advanced Reading class. It makes me think of my Grandpa. I miss him. I miss my family. Why do I always have to feel so darn nostalgic.

Max's brother went home today. They say he's coming back. We'll see if that will happen.

They're fundraising and need a certain amount by April in order to get the movie made. I say one less shot of Gardasil and One MORE girl. Thank goodness I'm on the mend. Must be forever grateful because I never know when the horrible feelins will come back. I'll probably try to donate some. Why not donate an hour's pay... maybe it can save another girl all the hours I spent suffering. Compared to some I've hardly had it half bad. But the point is that it's preventable and young girls who did not ask for this are being willingly subjected to the roulette of whether they will be one of the millions who are unaffected, or if they will experience the negative effects.

Well got my first rejection today. Il'd like to believe it's not a true rejection... because the page said they had a strict deadline those wanting to work for them have to be diploma-ed by the 10th of June. Unfortunately I won't be "graduated" until the 13th of June... although my last classes are this term and I'll technically be graduated at the end of this one.

Bureaucracy!!!

So... just like America's Next Top Model I'l just apply for other stuff and remember that there is a new cycle coming up and I will be fully and legitimately diploma-ed and still have all my experience by that point. Just have to keep working hard.

There is also a small job in Aichi-prefecture that I would like to apply to. I wrote a cover letter in Japanese today but I'm kind of worried about it. I know it's probably not near perfect. And there are some things I'd like to add. They just relisted the job... which means they haven't found anyone yet ;) And boy would I love to go back to Aichi.

So there are at least three places to apply to right now... they're always really vague about when they want workers to start... but I know Amity and Aeon is usually about 6-12 months after you apply...

We'll see. I'll keep you posted.

Ballet and Yoga is going really well. My strength is coming back quickly. I'd like to do a pre-pointe class and maybe even start to dance on pointe again. I'm such a water person though... always rushing... definitely hate taking things one step at a time. I'm working on it.

So this week I have brought you everything from pomeranians to electrosmog... why not do some more walking down memory lane~~~ and get away from wondering how much my mitochondrial DNA is being affected by wi-fi, cell phones, and microwaves.

For the first time in a while, since my schedule has let up and I've been feeling better, I sent letters/Christmas cards to all the people who have been good to me in Japan. ^.^

I got one from my friend Taeko today. My first host family ^.^

Anyway, she has a blog too. It is in Japanese but Google Chrome can translate it.

Anyway, I'm putting a picture on my blog of when we went to sushi with her family.

_____________

I know a lot of people going to see Gants. I think it comes with being in a Japanese major. If you're not that into manga/anime sometimes you can feel like the odd one out in classes. I wouldn't mind seeing it but the tickets were $12.50 each and for Max, I, and his brother to go that would come to 40.00. I want to buy some ballet shoes and might have to buy an expensive book for my research project... so I guess we'll have to entertain ourselves tonight. Which is fine by me, we have yoga!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

But you can't help but scratch your head when you listen to the points and think about the biology. After all, how can humans be so pompous as to even assume that we know everything about the workings of the universe. I know I feel awful if I sit around a computer all day. It didn't bother me when I was a kid... but thinking about how fast things are changing I remember a book I read in high school called "Future Shock." I think it is plausible that at the pace society is changing and adapting new technologies knowing nothing of long-term effects... is dangerous and unprecedented. But there's your rant for the day. I can't write coherently or in depth, I'm quite tired and classes have got me pretty busy. Luckily I have acupuncture today. Down to one appointment a week and holding my own pretty well in the interim between appointments. Much better than before. I attribute it to being out of the house and away from computers more.

Other crazy, but worthwhile topics include geopathic stress. But I really think that the technology explosion is something that should be looked into. If I were still in science I would look into it but now the only position I can take is journalistic.

It's not good, I still need to edit it, but it's about religion and society again for my humanities class that I am taking in Japanese this term. It's a challenge but I can actually say that I can write a paper much more easily in Japanese now. I'm a little frustrated though when I find myself limited by the expressions I can comfortably use while continuing to make sense. Mostly transition words, which even if I have heard before I don't feel comfortable using yet by myself. I'd think with all the reading this would get easier but I realize I ignore those words completely when I am reading...

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

So two days into the term... so far so good. Just hope it lasts. I have a normal amount of tired and no creepy-crawlies.

I'm no longer signed up for honors college Literature by and about Gay Men. NOW I'm in the Japanese Global Scholars class. It's really hard but I think it should theoretically get easier since my only other class is Japanese speaking and Beginning Korean. Regardless... the lack of a class intense on English should allow them to at least abstractly support one another. Not even out of the honors college yet and things are already getting more relevant. So there will be a research project this term.

We're covering Buddhism and our homework was to get our tails home and research sects of Japanese buddhism. I'm writing on SHINGON and RINZAI. RINZAI is a zen sect and has is about meditation, finding out who you are, and KOANS (unanswerable questions) are often utilized as lessons. Regardless, I like things that make me think.

If the sound of two hands coming together is the sound of a clap, what is the sound of one hand?

Not even a thought has arisen. Is there still sin or not?

I will think about this in acupuncture today. I have to type up paragraphs about it in Japanese today when I get home from acupuncture, ballet, and dinner. But until then, ponder away. It's really interesting, perhaps I found my term research topic?

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Not much to report from this front. I'm feeling better pretty consistently. I get a little "wired" at times but magnesium, taurine, and if necessary a little 5-HTP seem to help right away. Or sometimes I just have to go a night with not so great sleep. But I've been able to be reasonably active and have done a lot this week. I went ice skating twice (last night was the best, the local team had a game and there was a free skate afterward, ideally for those that had bought tickets but they allowed us to come in...), on a drive up around Spencer's Butte but never did get off at the park... we passed it... but it was a nice drive.

________________

Some resolutions for 2011:

-graduate in Spring (figure out how to get out of my science major and honors college... mostly because I feel they are not preparing me for the jobs I'm applying to and are just extra money and hassle, forcing me to take grad requirements instead of classes I'm interested in or I think would be helpful for me)-think positively

-make some friends, reconnect with who's left in Eugene and keep in touch with everyone who has escaped

-have a wonderful time with Tomona when she comes to visit

-start getting stronger with dance and yoga

-apply and get accepted to various companies in Japan

-maybe I'll be in Japan by September? It all depends on the companies' schedules

Total Pageviews

About Me

I'm an English teacher in Japan, interested in foreign language (and study Japanese... French and Korean)I'm also interested in biology and medicine: functional, holistic, nutritional, and alternative therapies for metabolic and immunologic "dis-eases." You'll find a reflection of that at my blog: a mixture of rants about health issues in modern society (what helps and hurts), university life, Japanese culture, language, and also ESL teaching resources.